Michael guided the second session on Concentration as a Factor of Awakening, offering two guided meditations (one as taught him by Ajahn Thanissaro, the other in the tradition of Ajanh Sumdeo) which might help one easily sink into samadhi. These bracketed a recorded talk on concentration by Gil Fronsdal.
http://zencast.org/zencast-404-right-concentration
Nancy led our first session on Concentration as a Factor of Awakening today, using an easy yoga asana, a guided meditation from Ayya Khema, and suggestions to practice drawn from her own experience at a jhana retreat with Leigh Brasington.
Here’s a 15 minute loving-kindness meditation by Ayya Khema similar to the one used
http://media.dharmaseed.org/recordings/1996/06/19960629-Ayya_Khema–lotus.mp3
And you can find over 300 talks by Ayya Khema on DharmaSeed.org
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/334/
Wendy led our exploration of Calm / Tranquility as a Factor of Enlightenment today, weaving together excerpts of talks by three different dharma teachers.
Marcia Rose “Connecting with the Factors of Enlightenment” http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/112/talk/2540/
Gina Sharpe “Tranquility and Concentration” http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/75/talk/3808/
& Gil Fronsdal “Cultivating Tranquility”
Anne guided our reflections on Calm / Tranquility as a Factor of Awakening today, anchoring her presentation with excerpts of a dharma talk by Joseph Goldstein:
http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/96/talk/3305/
Maryann directed our reflections on Joy today, using her own recollections of joyful times, along with excerpts from a recorded dharma talk given by Mark Coleman at Spirit Rock.
Rebecca guided our reflections on Joy, using both a guided meditation and a portion of a dharma talk by Tara Brach, “Committing to Joy.” Both may be found at http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/175/talk/16433/
Margaret led our reflections, using part of a talk by Rodney Smith titled “Mirroring Meditation”
<http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/148/talk/17881/>
along with a reading by Guy Armstrong of the Lump of Foam Sutta
<http://suttareadings.net/audio/index-readers.html#garm>
Both stressed the possibilities of seeing, in meditation, the relative insubstantiality of our experience – and with that, the freedom to shape our experience in the direction of freedom.
Michael framed the question for the day’s discussion,and everyone present had something to contribute, as our reflections on our individual motivations for practice were shared and explored. Among the questions that came up was the matter of how our overall orientation in practice affects our individual sessions of meditating. . . and also whether our daily practice has evolved in pace with the shifting goals of our intention.
Payton led our reflections this morning, revisiting the topic of Energy as a Factor of Awakening. In addition to leading us in two guided meditations employing different styles of energy, Payton framed the discussion with excerpts from a talk by James Baraz on “Energy/Effort (Virya)”
http://dharmaseed.org/teacher/86/talk/12355/
Wendy led our reflections today, on the topic of Energy, the third of the seven Factors of Enlightenment. Our session focused on the many perspectives raised in Joseph Goldstein’s recent talk: “Virya – Courageous Energy”
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/96/talk/17252/
